Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: iron man, Spencer Ackerman

Spencer Ackerman Happy To Bribe You To Order Iron Man #1

Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who focuses primarily on national security. And now he is bribing people to buy Iron Man.

Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer-winning journalist and writer who focuses primarily on national security, he has written widely for The New Republic, Wired, The Daily Beast and the Guardian as a national security editor. He won his Pulitzer for coverage of the 2013 global surveillance disclosures and recently wrote Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump. Last year, Ackerman co-wrote his first comic book, Waller vs. Wildstorm, for DC Comics' Black Label, which was delayed a year, but got plenty of coverage and pre-empted the current portrayal of Amanda Waller in the comic books.

A couple of months ago, Bleeding Cool scooped the news that Spencer Ackerman and Julius Ohta were to launch a new Iron Man series at Marvel Comics from October. Something that Marvel Comics then confirmed  calling it.. "a new brutal era."

But it doesn't have to start brutal. Spencer Ackerman is giving away free stuff.

"Comics are a strange business, economically speaking. Unlike every other aspect of publishing, comics do not ship to retailers on consignment, so merchandise in comics shops are not returnable. That means comic book store owners have to buy every item they stock. When it comes time to order new releases from the various comic book publishers, the store owners have to assume all the risk for what they can and can't sell. It would be natural for store owners, who face the additional pressure of paying commercial rents, to only buy what they know from experience they can move.  They must make this decision, on every comic solicited to them, by what's called Final Order Cutoff. And for me, that's this coming Monday, September 9.  A crucial way stores decide to order big on a series is for customers to tell them in advance that they're going to buy it. That's more than a hype machine. That's a guaranteed sale. Retailers generally make a calculation that preorders are a harbinger of serious interest in a series, so each preorder generates X number of additional retailer orders. #This is why I am offering free merchandise to you, produced and shipped your way at my expense, for proof of a preorder of IRON MAN. I need these preorders. All you have to do is call or email your local comic shop and tell them "I want the new IRON MAN series from Spencer Ackerman, Julius Ohta and Alex Sinclair." They will be happy to reserve your copies, since they know they can bank that money. You can find the shop closest to you here. Or you can set up what's called a Pull List—comics you want reserved, at the shop closest to you—through this website. "

And what will you get? On his website, he lays it out;

"If you pre-order Iron Man, email a picture of the receipt or whatever documentation your comic store provides to foreverwars.bullpen@gmail.com with a mailing address and the subject line "IRON MERCH." I'll send you, at no expense of your own, this great—shall we say invincible—sticker set designed by FOREVER WARS' own Sam Thielman and myself. I'll keep this offer open throughout my Iron Man tenure, since the more people who pull the book at their store, the better the book will sell. Comics people discuss a "natural attrition" the longer a series goes on. As someone who confronts the similar problem of "churn" in the newsletter business, I want to build as much of a bulwark against attrition as possible. Putting Iron Man in your Pull List will go a long way. "

So who fancies taking the Ackerman bribe? I'm sure Tony Stark would approve of it.

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